Gently, Carefully, slowly
by Koneko-Haru-chan
Summary: the servants of the Phantomhive mansion are stumbling all over themselves again. Perhaps a few words from their master, Ciel, can smooth things out. Not written by me, this is another of Oro-sensei's works.


_**Gently, Carefully, slowly**_

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_**Summary:**__ -sigh- the servants of the Phantomhive mansion are stumbling all over themselves again. Perhaps a few words from their master, Ciel, can smooth things out. Not written by me, this is another of Oro-sensei's works._

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_**Gently**_

Now this was just getting ridiculous. The garden, once lush and green, full of trees and beautiful flowers, was now like a war zone. Except without the fire and charred look. Though, the young Earl didn't doubt that Finnian could accomplish that if he tried.

Said ashen blonde was his usual teary faced self whenever he did something wrong. Finnian sniffled loudly, wringing his hands in his distress. Sebastian kneeled, one white gloved hand gently plucked a wilted rose from the ruined grass. The demon stood, red eyes assessing the damage.

Ciel Phantomhive sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and waving off another wave of Finnian's apologies. Sebastian stepped to the young master's side, passing the wilted rose to the child. His one sapphire eye stared at the petals, small hand cradling the decayed blossom.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to-" Ciel cut him off with a weary wave of his hand. He turned, looking out over the ruined foliage.

"Finnian, come with me. Sebastian, see if any of the roses can be salvaged for Elizabeth, will you?" The butler bowed, walking with quick strides to the farther, less damaged roses.

The Earl turned towards a path, beckoning with one navy gloved finger, "Finnian, with me." The gardener hiccuped, following his employer demurely. They walked in silence, Ciel softly twirling the blossom in his hand and Finnian fearing that his employer would throw him out of this paradise.

He didn't want to leave, not when he got to be out in the sun all he wanted, not when he could freely move about and touch people. "Master, I'm sorry, I'll be more careful i promise, please don't fire me, Please." They'd stopped by one of the lage pine trees, Ciel seemingly ignoring him. That was bad, he'd probably gotten on the master's last nerve and was merely waiting to fire him.

"I know I make mistakes, big ones, and that I've caused you problems, but please, sir, don't send me out. I-" The Earl raised a delicate hand, sapphire eye meeting tearful, lighter blue. "That will be enough Finnian." They faced each other, the Phantomhive heir somehow managing to tower over the taller young man.

He raised the hand holding the rose to catch the ashen blonde's attention, "What is this Finnian?" The gardener blinked, forgetting about his tearful tirade. "A rose, sir? A...white rose?" Ciel nodded, thumb gently stroking the petals. "Correct, a rose. How do you handle a rose Finnian?" The Earl's tone was soft and slightly amused.

"...?" He stared at the blossom, biting his lip. A trick question? if he answered wrong, would he be fired? A small smile decorated the Earl's face, "Well?" At least he didn't sound impatient. "Um...carefully? Because of the thorns?"

One corner of Ciel's mouth twitched. "Yes Finnian, but...do you see any thorns?" He slowly twirled the rose by its two inch stem, careful not to let the weak petals fall loose. Finnian shook his head, tears forgotten. Ciel nodded, "How do you handle a rose Finny?"

He frowned, confused. Finally, he shook his head helplessly. "I don't know, sir." He would be fired and get thrown from paradise. He wasn't sure he could handle that. Ciel extended his arm, catching the gardener's attention again. "Gently, Finny, gently. Here." He offered the rose, it's stem cradled between index and middle fingers, palm up in invitation.

Perplexed, Finnian reached out with both hands for the rose, forgetting his strength for a moment. Ciel pulled his hand and the rose away before the blonde could take it, sapphire eye ammused. "Sir? His hands were still extended, still reaching. "Gently Finnian." Slowly, the Earl offered the rose again.

Realization dawned, and the gardener carefully extracted the blossom from Ciel's gloved hand. His heart skipped a beat when their fingers briefly met. He smiled, without really knowing why, at the fower in his hands. Ciel nodded, turning as Sebastian approached, You must be careful and gentle to get past the thorns Finny. Now, back to work." Finnian nodded happily, "Yes sir."

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_**Carefully**_

Perhaps he could convince Maylene that she needed new glasses, yet she had refused such things before, so he doubted it almost as soon as the thought entered his mind. The auburn haired woman stammered apologies, clumbsily picking herself up, off of her disgruntled employer. Sebastian kneeled to help the young Earl to his feet, lips compressed into a thin line though his ruby eyes flashed with mirth.

Maylene hissed softly when she cut her finger on a shard of a broken china teacup. She berated herself mentally, hastily gathering the ruined set onto the tray, merely succeeding in cutting herself more. "I'm sorry sir, I c-couldn't see and I-I tripped a-and-" Oh God, she'd fallen on him! She'd frozen with the realization, mouth slightly open and bleeding fingers poised over the broken china set.

"Maylene." The emphasis on her name snapped her from her trance. Ciel shrugged away Sebastian's dusting hands, sapphire eye slightly narrowed and lips set into a frown. She started, trying to stand quickly, but tripped on the hem of her uniform and fell...again. At least she hadn't fallen on her employer again. Instead, she was sprawled at his feet, feeling (and probalby looking) horribly pathetic.

"I'm sorry, I-I...my d-dress...s-sorry s-sir." She'd managed to scramble away, once again trying to pick the shards from the floor. Her already torn fingers caught on the fragment's sharp edge and she hissed again. Shame threatened to choke her.

"Maylene." She looked up, blinking like an owl. "S-sir?" The Earl's expression was slightly exasperated, and he grabbed one of her bleeding hands. "I will not have my servants injuring themselves, drop those and come with me." Surprised and a little ashamed, she dropped the (hopefully last) fragments on the tray. Oh, now she was staining his glove, yet he wouldn't let her pry her hand away.

"Sebastian, clean this up and then bring in some alchohol and bandages to the study." The man bowed, lips stretched into a smile, "Yes my lord." Maylene blinked, "B-but I-" Ciel silenced her with a look, leading her to his study. She gulped, feeling out of place and like a nuisance.

Unconsciously, her hand tightened around the Phantomhive heir's. Ciel frowned, directing her to sit at his desk. She started to protest, but sat when he shot her that look again. The Earl's chair was comfortable, and made her feel even more out of place.

"Maylene." Her head jerked up, nearly unseating her glasses, "S-sir?" He frowned, "I shall need my hand." She blinked before realizing what he ment. "Oh! I'm sorry, I-" Ciel sighed, flexing his now freed fingers, "That is enough apology for one day." With an embarrassed stutter, she fell silent.

Sebastian entered the room, a bottle of alchohol and a roll of thick gauze in his hands. "Shall I, my lord?" Ciel shook his head, plucking the alchohol from the butler's grip. "I'll do it."

The demon raised an eyebrow, yet complied. Maylene clutched her hands, "It's n-nothing, sir, y-you d-don't-" Ciel placed a finger on her lips to silence her, his eye soft. "You are one of my household Maylene, one of my responsibilities. Give me your hands." Stunned, she slowly unclenched her fingers and offered them to her master.

Carefully, the boy poured a small amount of the fluid onto the thin, filgree-like cuts. Maylene bit her lip and did her best not to hiss in pain. She had been an assassin after all. Sebastian offered a cloth, which Ciel took and gently wiped at the excess alchohol and blood. "Maylene, what are these?" Fingers, smaller and more delicate looking than her own traced over hers. "...Fingers, sir?" From that angle, she caught the curve of Ciel's lips as he smiled. "Yes, and do you know how to keep them attached?" He poured a little more alchohol over her fingers, eye glancing up at her face.

"Eh...?" Ciel wiped at her fingers again, she realized he'd removed his gloves at some point. She saw her blood on his skin and shame welled up again. She didn't deserve this kindness, she shouldn't be enjoying this contact. The Earl took the bandages from Sebastian, carefully and gently wrapping her fingers in white.

"By being careful, Maylene."

He finished, folding the soiled cloth and handing it to sebastian. He smiled a little as he stood, "Be careful."

She nodded, a faint rose tinging her cheeks. "Yes sir."

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_**Slowly**_

It had been the smell of something burning that caught his attention. Curiousity had reared its head and he'd followed its lead to the kitchen. Just in time to be witness to yet another explosion that sent bits of dinnerware, cultry, food and ash/soot everywhere. He coughed, feeling his lungs strain and his eye water.

Bard sat admist the chaos, flamethrower in hand and cackling laughter bubbling from his chest. Ciel managed to breath without coughing and cast a look about the ruined kitchen. It was no wonder Sebastian was irritated with this man, if the wreckage was anything to go by. Could a flamethrower even be concidered cookware...?

He stood, a little shaken, and managed, "Perhaps I should have hired you for something else Bardroy." The ex-soldier stopped laughing and peered through the dusty air. His eyes widened and he dropped his flamethrower, "You're not hurt right?" Ciel sighed and lightly brushed the cook's hands away, "No, your cooking tendencies have yet to take my life."

Bard, satisfied that he'd done no harm to the Earl, strode over to survey the blackish lump he'd been 'cooking'. "Ha!, done and done right." He proudly held his creation out for his employer to look at.

The boy had to suppress the urge to say that it looked like a rather large lump of charcoal. Instead, he gave it a questioning look and managed, "Rather...interesting, Bard. but... are you sure it's edible?" The sooty man puffed out his chest, "Of course it is!" He broke off a thumb sized piece and popped it into his mouth, and tried to chew.

Almost immediantly, he spit the substance back out into his hand with a defeated grimace. "Well...maybe I used to much heat." Ciel raised an eyebrow and stepped around the man to search through the lower cabinates. Bard raised an eyebrow, setting aside his creation, "What'ca doin'?"

Ciel surfaced, arms full of pans, and headed for the stove. He placed two of them on the stove eyes, "Turn the front on first, medium; the second on low." Frowning, Bard did so, confusion mounting as the boy retrieved slices of chicken and placed them on a (surprisingly) clean cutting board. Then he brought out three pomegrantes and a large bar of Phantomhive dark chocolate.

Setting those to the side he found a cutting knife and passed it to the still waiting Bard. "Cut the chicken into rectangular strips and place them into the front pan, and add a half once of oil after." Bard started on his task, brow knotted in confusion, though it passed as he worked.

The Earl located a smaller knife and set about cutting open the pomegrantes. He took a measuring glass and poured a cup of milk into it, which he then poured into the pan heated on low. Breaking off pieces of chocolate, he placed them into the milk pan.

Bard leaned against the stove, eyeing the chicken as it cooked. He was tempted to use his flamethrower, yet he decided against it. "There is a loaf of rye bread in the bread box, slice enough for eight." The blonde man fround the bread and did as instructed, with a different knife, and eyed the Earl as the child carefully stirred the melting chocolate.

"Do you know what this is?" Ciel's eye briefly made contact with his own before turning back to the mixture. Bard frowned, washing his hands, "Chocolate?" he heard a soft chuckle, "What am I doing with the chocolate, Bardroy?" Turning back to his employer, he watched as Ciel placed the cooked chicken on the bread, along with the pomegrante seeds.

"....cooking...?" Ciel smiled, eye flashing with amusement. "Correct. Do you know how this is accomplished?" The boy took a spoon, lightly spreading the liquid chocolate over the chicken and seeds. Bard shrugged. The Earl topped off the sandwhiches, taking out another knife and slicing them into small triangles. "Time. Patience." He looked up to catch the cooks eye, "Slowly." Bard smiled, "Yes sir." Ciel nodded, bringing the plate to him, "Lunch."

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_**What did you think of Oro-sensei's take on the servants of Phantomhive and the Earl himself? Please review.**_

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